A San Quentin prisoner is suing the California prison system for denying Native Americans the right to use tobacco during religious ceremonies.
Daniel Trevino, a member of the Comanche Nation, filed the suit in the Northern District Federal Court in San Francisco. The defendant is the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
The prison rules manual provides an exemption for the use of tobacco products for inmate religious ceremonies. However, many institutions, including San Quentin, routinely issue rules violations for possession of tobacco, even to be used for religious purposes. Trevino stated that recently arrived Native American prisoners report that tobacco is used in other institutions without men being issued rules violation reports.
In South Dakota two inmates, Blaine Brings Plenty and Clayton Creek, have also sued the warden of the corrections department because of the tobacco ban in that state.
Richard Moves Camp, a traditional Lakota healer said during a federal trial “denying the use of tobacco by Native Americans would be equal to taking bibles away from Christians.”
The South Dakota lawsuit was filed in 2009 the California lawsuit was filed in 2011.
South Dakota, as well as California, has an exemption in their respective prison rule books providing for the use of tobacco during religious ceremonies.